Girls' Night Out
by lefty21
Summary: Seth has a quiet night planned for Summer to help relieve some of the stresses of law school, but when two unexpected visitors show up their plans are suddenly changed.  Mostly SS with a litte RT.
1. Chapter 1

So this is a future fic that started as a one shot, but as with most of my stories it ended up far longer than I was planning, so I've decided to split it into three parts, all of which are already finished. The last parts just need to be proof read which is the only reason they're not all being posted now. This first part is mainly the set up while more plot points will come in during the second and third parts. I tried my best to explain all you needed to know in the story, but if anything's confusing or they're any questions, just message me or leave a review and I'll be sure to answer them. And even if you don't have a question, please leave a review, because I've worked almost nonstop on this for a week, and it really is hard to find inspiration when it seems like only a few people are enjoying it, though all those who do always review, you're greatly appreciated.

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"Hey Sum…? Are you in?"

Summer looked up from her laptop for the first time in ten minutes to see Ally and Whitney staring at her expectantly.

"Uh…?" Summer blinked a few times as she stared at them blankly. She had no idea what they had been talking about.

She'd been friends with the two girls ever since she'd come to NYU for law school more than two years before and she'd been studying with them almost just as long, and this was a common occurrence. While she loved the girls to death their study habits were about as good as hers were in high school. Any cram sessions usually ended with Summer absorbed in her books or notes on her Mac while the other two talked and giggled and procrastinated.

Hence why Summer was currently clueless about what they were asking her.

"What?" she finally asked.

"Girl's night out Friday?" Ally reiterated. "Drinks and then dancing. You in?"

"Oh, uh…" Summer hesitated and the other two were rolling their eyes before she could even continue.

"Summer, if you even think about saying you're hanging out with Seth again I will run that boy out of town tonight just so you can't use him as an excuse anymore," Whitney cut her off mid excuse.

"I do not use him as an excuse," Summer mumbled defensively.

"Oh, so you prefer to stay home every Friday night watching lame anime and bickering rather than ever hanging out with us?" Ally raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

"Girl, you know that is not what they're doing. I had to crash there one weekend last spring when they were fumigating my apart… I did not get any sleep that night," Whitney grinned as she finished.

Summer's eyes widened and she huffed. "We are not that loud! And it was _one_ weekend; he'd just found out he'd gotten the internship with Scholastic for the summer and we were celebrating."

"Alright, I know you weren't that loud and I actually slept quite nicely— it must be nice to have parents who still buy you 800 thread count sheets - but I still know what I was hearing."

"Okay, okay…" Ally interrupted, laughing at Whitney's persistence and Summer's blushing. "Why don't you stop trying to make her blush so we can get back to what's really important – the fact that you keep blowing us off for your boyfriend!" she directed the last part to Summer.

"I'm not blowing you off," Summer countered immediately; defensively. "It's just... Going drinking and dancing with you two is like asking to be hit on and groped by no less than 10 horny coeds out looking for an easy lay."

"Are you calling us sluts?" Ally gasped in mock indignation.

"No, I'm saying you guys love to _act_ slutty whenever you go out together, which is okay because you're both single and your still allowed to do that… I, on the other hand, would prefer not to have random guys grinding up on me and grabbing anything they can get their hands on."

"It's not a crime to still have fun, Sum, even if you are practically married."

"I do have fun… I just have it hanging out with Seth. And we are not practically married!"

"Please," Whitney was rolling her eyes and cutting in before Summer could even finish. "You two act more like an old married couple than my grandparents. And _they_ just had their 50th anniversary."

"Why don't we just hang out next weekend?"

"Or how about we hang out this Friday like Whitney and me were already planning. Stop trying to bail on us, Sum." Ally pouted and stuck her bottom lip out pitifully as she finished. "We're going to start to think you don't like us."

"You two are ridiculous," Summer laughed as she swatted at Ally who continued to pout dramatically.

"Stop being retarded, Al. You know this isn't about us. She probably just likes what she does with Seth on Friday nights a lot more than what she'd be doing with us."

"Okay, can you stop making random and obscure comments about my sex life? It's starting to freak me out."

"Why? Girl, if I was getting laid every night by a guy like Seth I'd want everyone to know. And just 'cause you won't brag about it doesn't mean I can't brag for you."

Summer rolled her eyes at Whitney's bluntness but still grinned. Her bizarre and totally unabashed personality was one of the reasons Whitney was so fun. Even when she was being completely inappropriate or awkward Summer still couldn't help but laugh. She kept Summer grounded and stopped her from taking herself too seriously - something that grad students at NYU had a tendency to do sometimes; especially grad students in long term relationships who sometimes forgot that they were 23 and still young, not 43 and on the verge of menopause.

"Look," Summer finally conceded. "I do want to hang out with you guys, it's just, Seth already made plans and I don't want to disappoint him."

"What plans?" Ally asked expectantly, already speculating on ways to get Summer to drop them.

"Romantic dinner and a movie," Summer mumbled, averting her eyes to her computer screen to avoid the visual scrutiny no doubt plastered across the other girls' faces.

Ally gasped incredulously. "You're blowing us off for something you do every weekend!"

"Girl, just tell him you'll go see the new Spiderman movie next weekend. And I'm sure he can cancel his reservation at Chucky Cheese."

"Actually," Summer replied snippily, glaring at Whitney, "He's making the dinner himself. And we're renting a movie to watch at home."

At that revelation Whitney snorted and Ally rolled her eyes.

"_Actually_, what you're saying is it's exactly like Whitney said. You're staying home to bump and grind with Seth all night instead of with us."

"Oh, we might as well just give it up," Whitney laughed in mock exasperation, finally offering Summer a reprieve from the taunting. "If the girl wants to stay home with her boyfriend then what are we gonna do about it?"

"Thank you," Summer sighed and relaxed back into her chair.

"You just better be grateful that we like Seth. Otherwise we wouldn't let you get away with this," Whitney added.

"Yeah, and you're definitely hanging out with us next weekend. I don't care if Seth is on his death bed, you're not bailing again."

"Deal," Summer grinned. "Now can we get back to studying? I'd kind of like to pass this course the first time around instead of having to spend another semester here with you two."

"You know you don't want to leave us next year for the big bad real world. Me and Al keep you sane. You'd go crazy if you really spent all your time with Seth."

Summer just grinned and shrugged, knowing that what they said was probably true. If it wasn't for Ally and Whitney she would spend all of her time with Seth, and that would just inevitably lead to her going crazy and probably killing him.

The Shins erupted from Summer's phone moments after the conversation ended, prompting Ally and Whitney to look at each other knowingly before breaking down into laughter.

"And speaking of the guy…" Ally gasped between fits of giggles.

"I guess it's time for Summer's nightly check-in," Whitney tried to say seriously as she caught her breath, but when Ally erupted with a fresh spurt of giggles she lost it all over again.

"Uh-oh, Sum, are you out past your bedtime? Is _Cohen _gonna be mad at you."

"Shut up!" Summer shoved Ally's arm as she brought her phone to her ear and tried to block out the other girls.

"Ooh, now she's pissed at you, girl," Whitney guffawed and pointed mockingly at Ally, who, despite rubbing at the bruise on her arm that was no doubt forming where Summer had punched her, still couldn't contain her laughter.

"Hey!" Summer answered, smiling widely as she greeted Seth, holding a finger to her other ear to try to keep out the obnoxious laughter that Whitney and Ally were sporadically exploding with as they continued to playfully mock her from the couch they shared. They quieted down, though, when Summer actually started to speak, not wanting to miss their chance to eavesdrop. Despite all their taunting and teasing of Summer, they were the first two to admit that they lived vicariously through her relationship with Seth, and they couldn't very well do that if they didn't listen in on the intimate and private phone conversations so that they could swoon and awe over them later.

"Oh, no, the library was packed so we decided to study at Ally's," came Summer's one-sided reply to the question Seth had obviously posed.

She paused as Seth no doubt responded on the other line. The girls figured he had moved on to a new inquiry when Summer suddenly rolled her eyes and glared at them.

She stared pointedly as she responded, "Uh, it was going well until about ten minutes ago when Tweedledee and Tweedledum's childlike attention spans suddenly put a stop to any real work we were getting done."

They could hear Seth laugh on the other end while responding that Summer really should have expected that as soon as she made plans to study with them.

"You better watch it Seth," Ally called playfully as Summer glared, "or we won't let Summer come home tonight for your booty call."

Summer listened with a quirked eyebrow as Seth responded, then rolled her eyes as she conveyed the message to Ally. "He says 'bite me.'"

Ally scoffed. "How 'bout you tell him to come up with some better comebacks."

"How 'bout you can leave me out of this and call him when I'm done."

Summer ignored Ally's pout as Seth continued on the other line.

"Um, no not yet…" she answered after a moment.

"Okay, yeah, I'll be home in a little bit… Okay, love you too… Bye."

"He want you to come home and tuck him in?" teased Whitney lightly once Summer's phone snapped shut.

"Ah-ha…" Summer laughed sarcastically then scowled. "No. He just wanted to see if I'd eaten because he picked up some Thai on the way home."

"Aw, that's cute," Ally teased some more as Summer began to gather her stuff. "So are you going home now so he doesn't have to eat alone?"

"No, I'm going home so that I might actually be able to get some studying done tonight. Something that I know won't happen if I hang out with you two anymore."

"Don't even play," Whitney called her out. "His attention span is just as short as ours, and he won't let you study for more than 10 minutes before he starts bugging you to play with him. So we know you're really just going home to get laid."

Summer rolled her eyes again as she gathered her last few items, but then she couldn't help a slow grin from sliding across her face. "Well," she finally conceded, "at least it's more than I can say for you two."

"_Ohhhhhhh_," both Whitney in Ally erupted into whistles and catcalls as Summer slipped out and closed the door tightly behind her, hoping to save any of the neighbor kids from having to hear any of her friends' crude suggestions.

A minute after leaving Summer's phone rang to life with a new text message from Ally.

"Don't forget, you owe us a girls' night out next weekend."

Summer just rolled her eyes as she stepped out onto the rainy New York sidewalk. There was no point in writing back, because no matter what she said she knew there was no way she was getting out of it.

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"You're wet," Seth commented from his position on the couch as soon as he saw Summer walk through the door.

"It's raining," _dumbass, _she added in her head as she raised an eyebrow irritably and waited for him to come help her with some of the stuff in her hands. Between the purse, laptop and books she had brought to Ally's and the bag of groceries she had picked up at the corner shop on her way home she had barely been able to get the door to their apartment open.

Seth rolled his eyes, knowing what she was waiting for, before dragging himself off the couch. "Here, let me help you with that," he offered in a falsely sincere tone that Summer could see through all too well.

He took the single grocery bag from her hands and she rolled her eyes as she followed him into their kitchen, hands still full of all the other stuff. "You're such a gentleman."

"I'm pretty sure I've told you on several occasions that chivalry is dead, so you're actually making out pretty good here. What'd you get at the store, anyway? I already told you I picked up dinner."

"And as sweet as that was, we live off of more than just Thai food, and in order for you to have that cereal and coffee you love so much every morning, that requires us replacing said coffee…" she paused as she threw open the fridge and reached for something in the door, "and our expired milk every once in awhile," she finished, brandishing a half full half gallon of milk stamped with and expiration date that indicated it was six days pass due.

She handed the jug of lumpy milk to him and he made a face.

"I'm not dumping this out. Do you have any idea how bad this probably smells?"

"Considering I'm the one who usually does it… Yeah, I have a clue. If you don't want to dump it out you can just throw the whole thing down the garbage disposal and piss the super off. We asked him to fix the sliding door to the balcony five days ago and he hasn't even come up to look at it yet, so he deserves it anyway."

"Cool," Seth shrugged as he headed for the front door.

"Wait, wait, wait…" Summer called out to halt him as she hurriedly tied off the full bag of garbage in their waste bin and thrust the bag at him. "Take this too if you're already going."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered obediently.

Summer grinned as she watched his retreating back. "And you said chivalry was dead."

Three minutes later when he returned Summer was already sat on the couch with a plate of the Thai food he'd brought home and an old rerun of _Friends_ on the TV.

"I see you've made yourself comfortable already," he said as he eyed the pair of pajama pants and t-shirt she had already slipped into.

She looked up and grinned in response before turning her attention back to the small plasma centered on their living room wall, courteous of her father.

Seth grinned at her cuteness as he made his way over and landed on the couch beside her. Without warning he cupped a hand behind her head planted a thorough kiss on her mouth, paying no mind to the forkful of Pad Thai she'd just shoved into her mouth.

After the initial shock Summer quickly swallowed and returned the gesture, though still not quite sure how they had ended up there.

He pulled away a moment later, smiling, as she just looked at him strangely.

"What was that for?"

"Just a hello kiss," he answered matter-of-factly. "We got kind of distracted when you first got home, and just wanted you to know that I was happy to see you."

"You're so corny, Cohen," she retorted, but she was grinning too by this time.

"So, your studying went pretty well?" he asked as he relaxed back into the cushions of the couch, only to be immediately met with Summer's legs stretching out and her feet landing in his lap. He rolled his eyes but gave no objections as he picked up one foot and started massaging it gently.

"Yeah, but I'm still not sure if I'm ready for this exam. There's so much material I still have to go over. I'm not sure that I'll be ready by Friday."

"You've still got tomorrow and Thursday, plus Friday morning," he pointed out. "I'm sure you'll do fine. And hey, I'm the king of flashcards, and I'd be happy to lend my quizzing services, if you want."

She smiled gratefully at his attempt to lighten her outlook. "Thanks."

He shrugged and grinned lopsidedly. "No problem. So how do Whitney and Ally feel about it? They as worried as you?"

"No," she rolled her eyes bitterly. "It's like they were born without the gene to worry. You know, like Josh Hartnett in that one movie, but instead of, like, not being able to be afraid of anything, they're, like, physically incapable of worrying about anything."

"I thought the only thing you were paying attention to in that movie was Josh Hartnett."

"For most of it, yeah," she stated matter-of-factly, "but I listened some."

"Oh," Seth's mouth rounded in understanding.

"Anyway," she turned her attention back to Ally and Whitney. "We'd barely been studying for an hour when they completely lose focus and start talking about some girl's night that they want to have."

"Girl's night?" he questioned interestedly, images of girls in lingerie and Summer giggling wildly as she talked about him flashing through his head.

Yeah, wishful thinking.

"You know… dancing, drinking, hooking up with random guys for the night…"

"Have I ever mentioned what a bad influence I think those two are on you?"

"Chill," she grinned humorously at him. "They're the two hooking up; I hardly ever go, and when I do I always end up taking a cab home halfway through the night because they ditch me for said randoms."

"Well…" Seth responded thoughtfully, "maybe you should go. You've been so stressed with this test coming up that a night out with them might be good for you."

"Nah, I don't really want to go, anyway," she shrugged dismissively. "Besides, they want to go this Friday and we already have a date planned," she grinned.

Seth tensed slightly at the mention of this, but it was barely noticeable to Summer, and by the time he started speaking she had already disregarded it.

"Right. Okay, I retract my advice for you to go. No canceling of the date."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it. Besides, I'd much rather relax with you. Plus, if I do well on my test then you can get me a bottle of wine so we can celebrate here."

"Well now I guess I have more incentive to help you out with my flashcard technique."

"Uh huh," she nodded before finally letting her head roll back against the couch as she fully enjoyed his massage.

"How's that?" He raised an inquiring eyebrow as he pressed his thumbs into the center of her foot.

"Uhhh…" she sighed blissfully. "This is why I love you so much."

"Really?" he pouted playfully. "And here I thought it was because of the great lovin'…"

"No, that's why you love me so much, honey," she responded with a smug smile, still not lifting her head or opening her eyes to actually look at him. "I just stick around for the massages."

"Well at least I know I'm good at something," he replied sarcastically. After a moment his motions stilled on her foot and she opened one eye warily to see what had brought about the halt. Seth raised an eyebrow hopefully. "So if I'm fulfilling my side of the bargain right now, does this mean you'll be pitching in your half later?"

Summer pretended to consider the question for a moment as she strategically let her foot fall from his hands into his lap. He tensed and his eyes widened slightly as her foot _just happened_ to land over his, until recent seconds, dormant "little Seth".

"You know…" she started thoughtfully as her foot moved slightly against him and he fought off a groan. "That's why Whitney and Ally think I left early. They think all we ever do is have sex."

"Well…" he exhaled slowly as the movement of her foot became more deliberate over the bulge in his pants. "I don't see any reason why we should try to prove them wrong…"

"I don't want them to get the wrong idea," she said in mock concern. "Our relationship is more than just sex, right?"

"Yeah, of course. I also give you foot massages," he added cheekily as he tried his best to keep his eyes focused on her when all they really wanted to do was squeeze shut so he could completely focus on what she was doing to him. "The sex is just what you contribute in return to keep this relationship going."

"Well that makes it sound better," she decided, feigning complete seriousness.

"Good. I'm glad you see my point," he responded distractedly as his breathing grew shorter. "So now that that's settled, do you think you could… you know," he gestured to her foot in his lap.

"Oh, you want me to stop?"

Seth immediately grabbed for the foot she was pulling away. "No, definitely not…"

She grinned.

"I was just thinking…" he reached and grasped her hands before pulling her into his lap in one quick motion so that she was straddling him, "maybe you could get a little closer."

His mouth closed over hers before she could reply but her ardor in returning the gesture suggested she had no objections to the change in positions.

When she pulled away she leaned her forehead against his and smiled slightly as she fingered his belt buckle absentmindedly.

"You know, they were right. I really did come home just so we could have sex."

"I knew the real reason you kept hanging around was just 'cause I was good in the sack," Seth exclaimed victoriously.

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When Seth's phone erupted into some obnoxious Justin Timberlake song Friday afternoon he reached for it immediately. He had been stressing out in the far corner of a Starbucks for the past half hour waiting for Summer to call to tell him how she did on her test. This was the last test she had to take before her finals, and after she finished her finals she would be done; just one bar exam away from her license and an opportunity to find work that she really cared about. But she needed to do well on this last test to ensure that she only needed a C or better on the final to pass the course, which she was already convinced she could get.

She had decided before she even entered Law school that she wanted to finish as fast as possible. More than sixteen years in school had made her eager to finally get out and live her life, but she also knew that if she really wanted the chance to contribute to the issues she cared so much about she should go further. She would have a lot more leverage as a lawyer than as a regular citizen with only a Bachelor's in Environmental Studies. So while Seth worked on a Master's in Literature, she worked on her Law degree, and now both were only a few weeks away from finishing just in time for the Holidays.

"Did you blow it away?" he asked as soon as he answered. "What am I talking about? Of course you did," he answered himself. "You must have… You studied for hours. I watched you. And I made you flash cards. And my flashcards are foolproof. Even the dumbest person could ace a test with those babies—"

"Cohen!"

"Yeah, sorry. Can't help it," he immediately chided himself when he'd realized he had been rambling. "How'd you do?"

"Well, I think," she answered calmly, though he could hear the relief in her voice. "At least I hope so. I definitely knew all the material, so I don't see how I could have gotten anything less than a B. Especially if he uses a curve to grade it. Which he usually does. I mean, why wouldn't he use one now? Oh no… What if he doesn't use one?—"

"Sum," it was Seth's turn to calm her rambling. "I'm sure you did fine. With or without the curve," he added before she could start all over again. "When will you find out your grade?"

"He said he'd definitely have them posted by Monday."

"Well then I guess we'll just have to find a way to keep your mind off of it until then…"

"Well this romantic date you have planned tonight is a good start; especially if there's alcohol involved. Then that could keep my mind off of it for at least a good twenty-four hours."

"I think that's called alcoholism, but I'll pick up some wine on the way home."

"Thanks, Cohen. You're the best."

"I know," he replied in a playfully arrogant tone.

She just rolled her eyes, having expected nothing less from him. "So, do you have to go to your two o'clock soon?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I was just taking a quick coffee break and waiting to find out how you did before I headed out."

"Oh," she pouted. She had been hoping they could maybe meet up for a late lunch. "Is it anything important? You could always skip and treat me to lunch."

"As much as I love spending money on you…" he replied sarcastically, "I can't. The professor's going over the guidelines for the final paper today and he already told us to make sure we were there because he won't be emailing any "slackers who wanted to sleep through class" the assignment."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, but I should be done by four, and then all I have to do is stop by the market, so I should be home no later than five."

"Okay, well, I'm about to go into the subway terminal, and I'll probably cut out, so I'm just going to say bye now."

"Alright," he sighed as he stood and tossed his cup into the trash. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Okay. Love you, Cohen."

"Love you too. See you soon."

With that Seth snapped his phone shut and pulled his coat tighter before trudging out into the soggy and cold New York streets.

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Look for the next part to be up very soon and please leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Deux. Enjoy.

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Summer shivered as she rushed into the air conditioned lobby of hers and Seth's apartment building from the wet streets later Friday afternoon. That was one thing she did not like about the city. It took a child of Southern California a long time to get used to so much rain.

"Summer!"

Her head shot up as a cheery male voice called to her from across the lobby. She looked up from folding her umbrella to see the doorman, Paul, rushing towards her, and he was obviously in full gossip mode. His eyes shone with determination and his lips were set in a firm line. Summer knew that look. He was on a reconnaissance mission for the whole staff. All the doormen along with the entire maintenance crew loved to keep tabs on all the upper middle class and mostly snooty residents of the building. As Paul put it, "This shit's more interesting than _Days _and _All My Children_ combined." Whether it was plastic surgery, affairs, substance abuse or any other number of completely personal issues, the staff loved to gossip about it all, and Paul usually came to Summer to confirm any knew rumors he had heard.

"Oh my god, my poor little Summer! Why didn't you tell me?" he cried dramatically as he wrapped her in an equally melodramatic hug.

Well this was new. Usually the gossip floating around had nothing to do with her. Accept for the one time when Sophie came to visit them for a week and the entire building had thought her and Seth had been hiding a child from them.

"Paul, what are you talking about?"

"You and Seth," he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world as he finally released her from his suffocating bear hug. "You don't have to hide it from any of us, Summer. We are all here for you."

Summer was becoming more and more confused by the second. She was discreetly shooting her gaze around the empty lobby waiting for Seth to pop out and yell "April fools!"… even though it was the middle of December.

"What about me and Seth?"

"Summer," he frowned sympathetically and clasped her shoulders supportively. "You don't have to lie to me. I am here for you. We are all on your side. Now I know we had more than one conversation where I told you how hot I thought he was, but that will not stand in the way of my loyalty to you. You are so much better at the shopping and the gossiping. And I always liked you better… even before the—" he glanced over each shoulder conspicuously to be sure no unwelcome ease droppers were about to hear the privileged information, "_Infidelity_," he whispered scandalously.

"What!?!"

"_Summer_, stop fighting me," he sighed, exasperated. "I know the denial is probably still helping you cope, especially so soon after it all happened, but in order for the healing to begin you need to talk about it and express your feelings. If you're hurt… if you're angry, that's _ohhh-kaaay_. I'm here to listen."

"Paul," she addressed him firmly. "Seth did not cheat on me. We're fine."

"Stop trying to protect the cheating bastard, Summer! He doesn't deserve the effort. And you don't have to worry about anything you say to me getting back to him."

She opened her mouth to deny it again but he shushed her with a finger over her lips.

"Now I know what you're going to say… And yes, to an extent it's true. In a choice between the two of you I would definitely choose him to sleep with him… but I swear… You win in every other department. And I promise that my attraction to the lying scumbag will not compromise the trust you place in me right now."

"Paul! Where did you get all this from? Are you rehearsing for one of your auditions or something?" It was the only reasonable excuse she could come up with for his behavior.

"Okay…" he sighed, holding a hand to his chest in exasperation and taking a deep, calming breath. "Obviously you need some time before you can talk about it openly. I'll give you a few more days to come to terms about it before I make you talk. You just go be with your friend… You let her take good care of you…"

Summer's eyes narrowed at him in confusion as she pulled out of his arms. "What friend?"

"_Your friend_," he replied as if it were obvious. "She said she was like a sister to you. That sweet girl said she flew in all the way from California just to be with you in your time of need. She said you told her you were worried Seth might try to come back and harass you and you didn't want to be alone. That's the only reason the super let her into your apartment. She said she had to make sure Seth didn't try to get in while you were in class."

"The super let some strange woman into my apartment just because she said she knew me!" Summer cried, outraged. "First he can't even look at my sliding door and now he's letting random women who probably want to kill me into my home…" she mumbled to herself. "…I really don't like him."

"Uh… Summer, honey? Are you alright?" Paul questioned, eyeing her worriedly as she mumble to herself.

"What?" she looked back up to see his worried expression. "Oh… no, I was just talking to myself," she shook her head dismissively. "Now Paul, this friend of mine, did you actually talk to her?"

"Oh, just for a little bit while we were waiting for the superintendent to send some maintenance guys down."

"What was she like? Have you ever seen her here before?"

"Umm… No, I'd never seen her before, but she was very friendly; _very talkative_. And about some strange things, too. When she found out I was from Quebec she started speaking French," Paul recalled, still impressed. "She spoke it better than I did. And the things she told me about her and her boyfriend…" he added, holding a hand to his chest as if his heart was still recovering. "Oh. My. God. I would not even send some of that stuff to _Penthouse_. But he sounded hot."

"Wait," Summer held up a hand to stop him from talking as the realization washed over her. "Did you say French?"

"Mm, hmm."

"And the over sharing?"

"To the nth degree."

"I've gotta go," Summer excused herself quickly, racing to get to Taylor before she could cause anymore damage.

"Don't forget, Summer!" Paul called after her, waving frantically. "I am here for you when you're ready to talk."

"Thanks, Paul," she called distractedly, not even looking back as rushed into the elevator.

"Taylor!" Summer called sternly as soon as she opened her apartment door, only to find said offender sitting right out in the open on the couch watching _Oprah_ and eating _Seth's_ leftover Pad Thai.

"Summer! Finally," Taylor sat up excitedly and turned off the TV. "I was beginning to think I'd have to wait until tonight."

"Do you really think that's entirely appropriate?" Summer questioned, sauntering into the living room and gesturing towards the plate of food in Taylor's lap.

"What?"

"Eating my boyfriend's leftovers when you told everyone in our building that he was a cheater and a stalker."

"Oh…" Taylor's mouth rounded in comprehension and she smiled nervously. "That… You heard about that…?"

"I did. The entire staff is ready to call the cops if Seth even tries to come home tonight."

"In my defense, I never said stalking. I said harassing."

"Taylor!" Summer snapped, abandoning all pretenses of being polite. "What were you thinking?"

"I needed to see you, and I knew you had a class today, and I figured the only way they'd let me in was if they thought it was an emergency."

"This was the best emergency you could come up with?"

"Well if I had said you left your stove on or something they would have just gone in and checked it themselves, and then I would have had to wait downstairs."

Summer sighed, still frustrated. "What are you even doing here, Taylor?"

Taylor's shoulders immediately slumped and her eyes glossed over. "Ryan and I had a fight."

"So you flew six hours from San Diego to New York just to vent about Ryan? You usually just call."

"I don't think it was just a fight this time…" Taylor admitted, her bottom lip trembling.

"You mean…?" Summer immediately calmed and became more sympathetic. She sunk down next to Taylor on the couch and waited for her to continue.

"I think it was the last fight."

"What was the fight about?" Summer asked, not believing that one fight could have just ended their entire relationship.

"Me moving in."

"You guys got in a fight about that?"

"He kept putting it off!" Taylor snapped, her anger over the whole situation rising again. "We have been steadily together for over five years; we are both established in our careers; we are financially stable; we're committed! There is no reason for us to not take that next step, but Ryan just wouldn't do it."

"He flat out said no, he didn't want to?" Summer asked doubtfully, not believing that Ryan would be that reluctant.

"Not exactly, but every time I brought it up or made the suggestion, he would always have an excuse to put it off!" Taylor fumed. "Let's wait until I finish remodeling my kitchen. Why don't we do it after the Holidays? Let's talk about it after your Paris trip when things aren't so hectic… The coward could never just sit down and even talk about it. I mean, it wasn't like this when you and Seth moved into together, was it?"

Summer shook her head apologetically, smiling sympathetically as Taylor deflated a little. "No, it just kind of happened. I mean, when I came back from GEORGE it was just kind of assumed that I'd move into the apartment he already had."

"So you guys didn't even talk about? Just one day you were living on the bus and the next day you were living with him?"

"Pretty much. He picked me up the day after the New Hampshire Primary, drove me back to Providence and his apartment, and that's where I stayed."

"Well you guys have been living together for, like, six years now, right?"

"I guess…" Summer shrugged, narrowing her eyes curiously. How was that relevant?

"What about the marriage question? Hasn't that come up? Does he freak out about that?"

"Taylor…" Summer started slowly, apprehensively, cringing at the trouble she could foresee Taylor being there might eventually bring her. "Seth and I have been pretty much nonstop focused on just getting out of school these past few years. We haven't even had time to think about that, let alone argue about it. But we're usually on the same page when it comes to stuff like that, so I'm sure when the time comes we'll both probably just be ready."

"Without even talking about?" Taylor questioned doubtfully.

Summer nodded. "But don't go saying anything to him about it," she warned. "We're both perfectly comfortable and happy right now, and I don't want you to put ideas in his head that I've been complaining about not having a ring. You already scared off your boyfriend; I don't need you to chase off mine."

"Thank you, Summer," she replied, hurt and indignation evident. "It's good to know that you can take my problems seriously when I need you."

"I'm sorry," Summer apologized, trying to contain a grin. "I'll try to hold in the jokes like that. But I'm serious. Don't mention the "M" word to Seth. It could upset our status quo."

"Well…" Taylor replied in a tone suggestive of the very real possibility that she was about to overstep the boundaries of friendly interest. "Maybe the status quo needs to be interrupted sometimes… I mean, you guys have been dating since, like, puberty…"

"Or maybe…" responded Summer irritably, forcing a smile, "we just need to get back to the reason you're here."

"I told you. He keeps avoiding talking about our relationship moving forward and I finally had enough."

"But haven't you been pressuring this moving-in-together issue for a while now. What happened this time to make you just up and leave so suddenly? What'd he say?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I got back from Paris two days ago. Ryan took me out to dinner last night. I said I wanted to talk about it. He said we should wait until after Christmas; he was so busy planning for the Cohens and you and Seth coming for Chrismukkah that he couldn't even think about that right now."

"And that's when you got angry?"

"No, that's when I decided to play dirty and tell him that I had visited Henri Michel while I was in Paris."

"Taylor… you didn't?" Summer gasped, hoping Taylor hadn't really made _that _mistake.

"No! Of course not!" she put Summer's worries to rest immediately. "Henri Michel is still an old friend, though. We talk on email and I just wanted to stop by and say hi. And when I told him about my problems with Ryan he was very understanding. He said after this many years Ryan should be ready to commit. I mean, Henri Michel married me after three weeks, for God's sake. The least Ryan could do is ask me move in."

"And you told Ryan all of that? About the entire conversation you had with Henri Michel?" Summer questioned worriedly, hoping that Taylor had had the sense to censor some of that before talking to Ryan, but she knew Taylor well enough by now to know that that probably wasn't the case.

"Yeah…" Taylor cringed as the memory of Ryan's face when she told him came to mind.

"And that's what started the fight?"

"That's what started and ended the fight," Taylor corrected. "He just threw his napkin down and walked out, all silent and brooding. He wouldn't return any of my calls. He turned all the lights out and pretended not to be home when I came by later last night. He was really upset."

"So what? You thought coming here would help you work out your problems with Ryan?"

"No, but I just needed time to think. My mind was so clouded and I was so upset. I think I would have gone crazy if I stayed there."

"And here…?"

"I have you to keep me sane," Taylor smiled gratefully; hopefully. "You're my best friend, Summer. I really need you right now."

Summer inwardly sighed, knowing that Taylor's needy state would surely put an end to all plans she had for the weekend. And so much for her and Seth's romantic evening. As it was now Seth wouldn't even be able to get into the building.

"So what'd you have in mind? What do want to do?"

"Anything. I just need to stay busy. I can't think about him."

"Okay…" Summer nodded slowly. "But that's kind of broad. Did you have anything more specific in mind?"

"Drinking," Taylor answered immediately. "I need to get drunk. And dancing; I wanna dance. I need to have fun, _Summerrrr_," she whined desperately, pulling pleadingly at her friend's arm. "This whole thing has had me so stressed; I just need to unwind. I need, like… a girl's night!"

"_A girl's night_?" Summer repeated, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the irony. She just couldn't escape the damned thing.

"Yeah!" Taylor clapped excitedly at her brilliant idea. "It'll be so much fun. Just us dancing and drinking and not worrying about anything. Like we used to do before we became attached at the hip to our boyfriends."

"Taylor… we never did that before."

"I know, but other girls did and it just seemed like a good thing to say."

Summer sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to work out the sudden headache that was forming. "Okay, Taylor. We'll have a girl's night out. But first, you have to go down stairs and fix whatever you said about Seth," she ordered sternly, glaring when Taylor looked hesitant.

"Okay… I'll go do that now."

"And I have a phone call I have to make," Summer added, grabbing her cell phone out of her purse as she walked Taylor to the door. "Looks like they're going to get what they wanted, after all," she mumbled to herself once she'd found Ally's name and hit send.

-----------------------------------

"Sum!" Seth called as he stumbled through their front door, juggling two big brown grocery bags and trying to shut and lock the door. "I'm home! And I hope you're hungry…" he added, yelling over his shoulder as he made his way into the kitchen and set the bags down. "Because I got a crap load of food to make tonight."

"Hey, your home," Summer greeted him with a forced smile as she walked reluctantly into the kitchen. She already knew how disappointed he would be when she told him about the change of plans.

"Yeah," he answered distractedly over his shoulder as he started to unpack his bags. "The market was crazy busy tonight," he went on, immediately going into an anecdote about his day, just like they usually did whenever they would regroup at home after a day spent apart. "I could barely push my cart. And this grumpy old woman behind me in line kept hitting my heel with her cart. It hurt like hell. I think she did it on purpose because she was pissed I wouldn't let her in front of me in line even though I only had, like, twelve things while she had her whole cart full. And then, when I was downstairs just now, Paul was giving me the dirtiest looks… and not in, like, the sexual way that he usually does. He looked like he wanted to kill me. I mean, this has been the weirdest day. I cannot wait to just sit down and eat and relax…ugh," he finished, letting out an exaggerated breath, winded from all of his talking. "So how was your day?" he finally asked.

When he turned around to actually look at her though, he felt the air escape from his lungs for a completely different reason. "Whoa…" he gawked at her slim figure squeezed into a black, satin cocktail dress, accenting all of her curves perfectly, like it was made for the sole purpose of flattering her. "The Black Strappy Dress…" he whispered to himself, using the name he had branded his absolute favorite dress of hers with a few years ago. "I didn't think I still merited the Black Strappy Dress…"

"Cohen…" Summer smiled back at the apparent admiration on his face, feeling guiltier than ever about having to disappoint him.

"Not that I don't appreciate it—I _very much_ appreciate it anytime I get to see the Black Strappy Dress—but you know that you didn't have to dress up, right? I mean, I didn't really plan anything fancy."

"I know, but Cohen…" Summer tried to cut in and break the news fast, but he was already too far gone in his rambling. He had been doing it a lot lately. He always rambled, but in the last couple of weeks, especially these last few days, his nervous ramble had come back with a vengeance.

"Actually, I hope you don't mind, but I decided to go ethnic," he grinned excitedly as he held up some fajita seasoning. "See, there was this super cute old woman with a sombrero in the market that they had handing out free samples and I just couldn't resist. I know I said a romantic dinner," he admitted apologetically as he set the packet down and moved towards her, "but I figured this could be fun, right? Don't you think? We can start with some nachos, move onto the fajitas; I got some picante—I know you don't like it, but, you know, I have fond memories," he smiled goofily as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Seth…" she tried once again to tell him before he made her feel even worse.

"Then, you know…" he spoke over her, brushing his lips against her forehead, "I figured for dessert we could move into the bedroom… _have our own little fiesta_," he suggested in a husky voice, raising his eyebrows.

"Seth, I think our date's going to have to be postponed," Summer finally conjured up the guts to say it, inwardly cringing as she watched his face fall.

"¿Por qué?" he asked, his face set in a pitiful pout as he pulled back.

"Taylor's here," she sighed in explanation.

"¿Qué?" This time he just looked utterly confused with eyebrows raised and mouth gaping in disbelief.

"Taylor decided to drop by for a visit," Summer offered with a forced smile, though her narrowed eyes and the tone of her voice suggested she was anything but calm about the whole situation.

"I'm sorry, did you say _Taylor_?"

"Seth!" came Taylor's excited greeting from the doorway of the kitchen. She was dressed similar to Summer in a cocktail dress, with matching shoes and purse, and her hair and makeup were done up like she was planning on going to a Newpsie party. "I thought I heard your voice. How are you?" she asked, completely glossing over any and all questions that were obviously glaring from Seth's eyes.

"I've been better, Taylor," he answered through clenched teeth. "You?"

"Oh, you know. Nothing new," she grinned flippantly, obviously avoiding the elephant in the room.

"Uh, huh," He nodded, his mind still reeling. "What the hell are you doing here, Taylor?"

"Just thought I'd stop by. I haven't seen you guys in awhile."

"We were going to see you in two weeks for Chrismukkah."

"Yeah, you know, that completely slipped my mind, and by the time I remembered I was already on a plane here."

"Oh," Seth nodded sarcastically, mocking the complete casualness of Taylor's behavior. "Where's Ryan?"

"Back at home… _working on his kitchen_," Taylor added bitingly, forcing a smile through clenched teeth as she wrung her hands together. "Anyway," she continued, forcing her usual chipper, over-energized manner to shine through, "I hope you don't mind that I'm stealing Summer for the evening."

"Actually, I kind of do mind, Taylor," Seth answered, only to be met with a glare by both girls. He didn't care though, and he continued, already fully steamed. "We had plans tonight."

"Oh, I know. The movie night. Summer told me. It sounds _sooooo_ cute," Taylor cooed condescendingly, the sound of her sticky sweet and mocking voice grating on his ears. "But you can just do that next week, can't you?" she assumed more than asked.

"I'd rather not," Seth answered curtly.

"Well that's too bad," Taylor answered, finally cutting the sincerity act. "I need Summer right now, so your needs are just going to have to wait until mine are sorted out."

"You can't just come in here and dictate her schedule," he snapped defensively.

"I'm not dictating it!" Taylor huffed indignantly. "She wants to go out with me tonight. She's probably going stir crazy spending all of her time in here with you."

""Taylor!" Summer finally jumped in. "Do you remember what you did earlier? And what you did to his plans for tonight? Don't you think you should maybe be a little nicer?"

"I'm going to go downstairs and get a cab," Taylor replied tersely. "You guys talk, and you can just meet me down there when you're ready, Summer. I mean, it's not like I'm hurting right now. It's not like the comfort of one of my oldest and closest friends is the only thing keeping me from snapping. It's not like I flew 3,000 miles just to spend a little time catching up with two of my best—"

"Taylor…" Summer interrupted her, knowing it would be the only way to get her to stop. "Can you just wait outside the door and give me and Seth a minute, then I'll be right out," she spoke slowly and reassuringly, as if trying to explain something to a child.

"I'll be outside," Taylor replied in stoic victory as she turned sharply and slipped through the doorway to the kitchen and out the front door.

"Seriously…?" Seth couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I'm sorry," Summer frowned apologetically.

"Why this weekend?" he whined. "It could have been any other weekend but this weekend."

Summer eyed him curiously. "Is it really that big of a deal? It's not like we had a reservation. We can postpone 'til next weekend, right?" she asked sweetly as she clasped his hands and squeezed them, hoping he would cheer up a little.

"Yeah," he agreed reluctantly. "But I really don't like her right now."

"I'm not her biggest fan either at the moment. Just be happy you weren't here for what she did earlier…" she mumbled cryptically.

"Huh?"

"You really don't want to know," she shook her head dismissively before smiling up at him thankfully. "I promise I'll make this up to you next week."

"Does that involve you wearing the Black Strappy Dress again?" he asked hopefully as his fingers toyed with one of the spaghetti thin straps.

She grinned at his slight shift in mood. "It can, yeah. And I promise if Taylor lets me come home sometime before dawn I'll even let you take the strappy black dress off tonight…"

"If you're not home by three I'll come out and drag you home myself," he replied seriously. "Taylor can't get all of your time. And she's certainly not going to help you out of your dress."

"I promise the job is yours as soon as I get home."

"Well then, by all means please hurry up and leave so you can hurry up and get home…"

"See you later, Cohen," she grinned as she leaned up and kissed him quickly before rushing out the door to an impatiently waiting Taylor.

-------------------------------

A few hours after Taylor had come and whisked Summer away Seth was sat bitterly on the couch watching what felt like his tenth episode of _Friends_ that night. This was so not how he had planned to spend the night. He was supposed to come home, sweep Summer off her feet with his romance and humble charm and then spend the rest of the night happily ever after. But, no! Taylor and her crazy Taylor ways had to come and ruin his plans— Plans he had made long before the overzealous, entirely-too-energetic crazy woman had decided on a whim to come and mess up his whole night.

He had already tried to call Ryan to tell him to keep his girlfriend in check a little better but the call had cut straight voicemail. So Seth ended up having to face the bitter abandonment alone, not even being able to complain about it over the phone.

"Sure…" he nodded bitterly at the television as he watched Chandler and Monica stand and kiss in the middle of their candlelit apartment, smiling happily as tears of joy flowed from their eyes. "It's easy when you don't have Rachel and Phoebe coming in and interrupting all the time…"

He continued to watch only half interested as the other friends rushed in, all celebrating excitedly over Monica and Chandler's engagement. "So unrealistic…" he mumbled to himself as he flipped it off with the remote and flopped down on his back, frustrated and bored, staring blankly at the white ceiling.

A few minutes later his mind numbing boredom and brooding were interrupted by an insistent banging on the door.

He sighed irritably as he got up to answer it. "Paul!" he called loudly as he trudged towards the door, "If that's you again I swear I seriously will call the building manager and complain." The guy had already come by twice just to make sure Seth wasn't having any "unauthorized company" while Summer was out. Seth had no idea what had made Paul so suspicious of him, but he was certainly getting really tired really fast of Paul constantly interrupting his sulking.

"Seth, it's me. Open up."

"Ryan?" Seth called out in astonishment, completely confused for the second time that night. Though, he supposed he should have been expecting something like this. "Just dropping by for a visit, my ass" he mumbled, recalling Taylor's earlier explanation. It was always obvious when Taylor was running from something. Seth should have known her sudden drop-in probably had something to do with Ryan.

"Dude… What are you doing here?" he questioned as he opened the door to reveal a very wet and tired looking Ryan with a single knapsack hanging over his shoulder.

"Where is she?" he pushed past Seth and his eyes scanned the apartment frantically.

"Taylor? She's out with Summer. Dude, again, I ask, what the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"She can't just tell me something like that and then take off and leave just because I get a little angry!" Ryan exclaimed, throwing his backpack down beside him before sinking down into the couch, seemingly defeated at the moment.

"Dude!" Seth shouted for the third time. "What the hell is going on?"

"What?" Ryan looked up, seeming only now to be noticing that Seth was there. "You said Taylor was here earlier. Didn't she tell you everything?"

Seth scoffed. "I was home for about a minute and saw Taylor for about thirty seconds before she was stealing Summer away and ruining my plans for the night."

"You mean she didn't tell you why she was here?"

"She basically told me to fuck off and mind my own business as she dragged Summer out the door. Accept, you know, she did it in a much more politically correct, Taylor-type way."

"So she didn't tell you anything?"

"Basically," admitted Seth, shrugging indifferently as he plopped down next to his brother on the couch. "But seeing as how yours and Taylor's problems are really starting to fuck up my weekend I think I'd really like to know now."

And Ryan proceeded to tell him all the events of the last two days that had eventually led to Taylor's unwelcome arrival on the Roberts-Cohen doorstep.

"So she just up and said that she had gone to see Henri Michel in Paris?" Seth asked incredulously as Ryan finished relaying the story.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded, scoffing indignantly at the whole situation he had somehow found himself in. He was the least confrontational, drama-inclined guy in the world and yet he always found himself in the middle of it. "Can you blame me for just getting up and leaving after she basically told me that she thought Henri Michel was more responsible and committed than me? I mean, I thought we got over all this French husband stuff, like, seven years ago, only to have her still throw it in my face."

"I can't believe she would say that. And then just fly across the country without even telling you."

"I know!" Ryan agreed indignantly. "And the thing is, she really has no idea what's really going on. She's so damn stubborn; she refuses to see that there may be more to it than just what she chooses to see. God…" he let out a frustrated sigh as he collapsed against the back of the couch and rolled his neck from side to side, trying to relieve some of the stress. "Why does she have to be so impatient? If she could've just waited a few more weeks I would've been ready. I just needed a few more weeks…" he spoke slowly, regretfully, knowing he'd have a lot of work to do to fix this.

"So what are you going to do, man?" Seth asked hesitantly, not wanting to push Ryan, but at the same time still trying to push along any plans that would keep Taylor out of their apartment for the weekend.

"I guess I'll try to find her… talk some sense into her," he replied distractedly, his mind already working on what he would say. "I think I'm going to have to tell her everything," he reasoned as he looked up at Seth and waited to see what he thought.

"You mean… all of it?" questioned Seth disbelievingly. "Even the part about the –"

"All of it," Ryan answered resolutely. "I think that's the only way I'll be able to calm her down and get her to listen. Right now she's so convinced that I'm scared to commit to her, when in actuality…"

"Yeah…" Seth nodded slowly. "…It's like the complete opposite."

"Exactly… So do you think you can call Summer and find out where they are?"

"I think I can do some reconnoitering, yeah. I'll take care of it," Seth confirmed before looking Ryan up and down and staring expectantly.

"What?" Ryan glared at Seth's behavior.

"Uh… Maybe you should go get cleaned up while I make this call," Seth suggested. "You look like hell."

"Oh…" Ryan looked down and surveyed his appearance, cringing when he saw that he did, in fact, look like crap. "Can I, uh…" he gestured towards the hall.

"Yeah man, go ahead. Towels are in the closet next to the bathroom," Seth waved him onward. "Oh… and feel free to look through my closet for some clean clothes… though I doubt anything'll fit," he mumbled to himself as he scrolled through his phonebook.

He hit "call" as soon as Summer's number came up and scuffed his shoe against the tile floor impatiently as he waited for an answer.

"Seth… I thought I told you this was strictly a girl's night…" he cringed when Taylor's voice came on the line and scolded him. "That means you are not allowed to interrupt in any way."

"Taylor…" Seth grunted irritably. "You already stole my girlfriend for the evening, can you at least let me talk to her… it's an emergency," he added quickly, knowing Taylor would never let him talk to Summer if she thought he was just calling to check up.

"What kind of emergency?" Taylor questioned skeptically.

"A _personal_ one," he replied stubbornly. "Now can you please give Summer _her_ phone and let her screen her own calls."

"I'm going to hang up and not tell her you called at all if you keep talking to me like that…"

A perplexed frown spread across his face. "Isn't she with you now?"

"She's in the bathroom," she stated simply.

"Well, is she coming back anytime soon…?"

"We're girls, Seth," she replied scathingly. "There's no right answer to that question. 'Soon' in our minds means anywhere from five to twenty minutes… Would you like me to tell her you called?"

"No," he scoffed immediately. "Like I'd trust you right now. You'll probably just hang up and delete all evidence of this conversation."

"So you'd rather talk to me until she comes back?"

"Who else is there?" Seth decided to explore other options. He could hear distant talking on the other end of the line along with some pounding bass before someone else came on.

"Hello?"

"Whitney…" Seth sighed, disheartened. She would give him an even harder time than Taylor.

"Seth!" she squealed excitedly; drunkenly, Seth noted.

"Whitney," he forced out pleasantly. "Enjoying the Mai Tais, are we?"

"Still being a smartass, are we?"

"For you, Whitney… Always."

"So why are you bothering us?" Whitney demanded, slurring slightly. "Didn't Summer tell you she's ours tonight?"

"Yes," he answered agreeably, "but from what I've heard about your nights out I was under the impression you would already be in some random dude's bed by—" he glanced at his watch, "12:30."

"You're such an ass. I don't know why Summer even likes you."

"I'm nicer to her," he replied sweetly.

"Ally wants to talk to you…" he could hear the glare in her voice before he was met with the sound of rustling and loud music again. A few seconds later Ally's voice flooded the phone.

"Why do you always have to piss her off, Seth?" she questioned good naturedly, probably not quite as far gone as Whitney yet. "Do you know her friends' opinions are what a girl considers most when she evaluates her romantic relationships?"

"Accept I'm Summer's best friend too, so my opinion trumps yours. Besides, she's known Taylor longer than you two and Taylor likes me… most nights."

"She doesn't like you tonight," Ally giggled, and Seth could tell it was a result of whatever alcohol she had consumed. "Because you're related to Ryan Atwood… and you have a penis."

"Oh, so is that what you ladies have been doing all night? Complaining about men?"

"Pretty much."

"Well do me a favor and try not to turn Summer too much against me. I kind of like her…"

"Aw," Ally cooed loudly. "That's what I like about you, Seth. Even when you're being a complete ass you can still be so sweet. That's why me and Whit are never really serious when we make fun of you…"

"Well that's nice to know," he commented sarcastically, but the mocking nature went unnoticed. "So does that mean you'll let me talk to Summer when she comes back?"

"Yeah, as long as Taylor doesn't take the phone—Ooh! hold on a sec..." Ally requested before Seth heard the loud music again and voices shouting over it.

He could barely make out a familiar voice demanding her phone back while Taylor barked something out about a five minute time limit.

"Cohen?" Summer spoke once she'd finally gotten away from the table and into a quieter corner of the bar.

"Hey, are you still next to Taylor?" he asked, skipping small talk, knowing Ryan would be pissed if he came out of the shower and Seth hadn't gathered any information.

"No..." she answered curiously. "Why?"

"Ryan's here."

"What!? Seriously?"

"Yeah. He showed up on our doorstep about thirty minutes ago looking for Taylor."

"How'd he find out where she was?"

"He banged on her door for an hour before one of Taylor's neighbors came out and said that Taylor had asked her to watch her dog for the weekend while she went to visit some friends in New York. Ryan got on the next flight he could."

"Taylor's not going to want to see him…" Summer sighed glancing over her shoulder to make sure Taylor was still oblivious over at the table.

"Yeah, but I think she really needs to hear him out…" he replied, hoping it didn't turn into a battle of the sexes with Summer getting mad that he was taking Ryan's side.

"You do? Did he tell you what happened?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "He told me what happened and then some. Trust me, Taylor has it all wrong."

"Why? What'd he say?"

"I can't tell you now, he's in the other room and he'll be pissed if he knew I was talking to you about it. He just wanted me to find out where you guys were so he could go get Taylor."

"What!" Summer exclaimed, rebuking the idea immediately. "She'll kill me if she knew I told him where she was."

"Not once she hears what he has to say," he tried to persuade her. "Just give me a name or address and we'll do the rest."

"Uh…?" Summer searched her memory for the address or even a street name, but her and Taylor had just met Whitney and Ally at Ally's apartment and they had been the ones to give the cabdriver the address. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus with the music pounding in her ears but nothing came to her. When she opened her eyes again Taylor was gliding determinedly through the crowd towards her. "Oh shit, Taylor's coming."

"What!? Sum, hurry up. What's the address?"

"I can't remember," she bit her lip apologetically.

"Do you know the name of the place?"

"Uh…? Hold on…" she spied a crumpled plastic cup on the ground and read off the word. "I think… uh… social? I think it'sSocial." she finally managed to make it out. "Gotta go," she added quickly when she saw Taylor's scowl getting closer.

"It's been seven minutes," Taylor scolded Summer when she reached her.

"Sorry," Summer mumbled, reminding herself that Taylor was one of her oldest friends and she was only being this overbearing because she was hurting. _This isn't the real Taylor_, she kept repeating in her head. Ryan just needs to come and fix everything.

--------------------------------

"Hey, did you find out where they were?" Ryan questioned as he emerged from the bedroom with wet hair and some fresh clothes he must have had in his backpack.

"Uh…" Seth replied distractedly as he perused his laptop. "Summer said 'Social', but there are two hits for that name on here. There's _Club _Social right here," he pointed to a point on the map displayed on the monitor, "and there's _The _Social—" he scrolled across the map, "all the way over here."

"She didn't say which one?" Ryan questioned, frustrated.

"She barely had enough time to say what she did with your girlfriend hovering over her like a hawk."

Off Ryan's glare Seth rolled his eyes and shut his laptop. "Look, it's no big deal," he offered as he stood and grabbed his coat draped over the back of the couch. "We'll just put you in a cab and send you to Club Social since that's closer and you don't know the city as well, and I'll head over to The Social and one of us is bound to find them."

"Okay," Ryan sighed reluctantly, hoping that Club Social would be where they were at.

"Dude, you might want to take this," Seth called after Ryan, who was already walking out the front door. Ryan turned to see Seth holding two umbrellas. "The wet hair thing didn't really work for you earlier when you showed up."

Ryan glared before grabbing one and tucking it inside his coat pocket.

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Part three to follow within a day (that is if I can tear myself away from Harry Potter long enought to edit it.


	3. Chapter 3

Number 3. Enjoy and please drop a review.

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Thirty minutes after separating from Ryan Seth was standing outside a sketchy looking establishment, staring up at a flashing marquee reading "The _Gentleman's_ Social" with a super-sized silhouette of a topless woman looming over it.

"I really don't think this is where they are…" he mumbled to himself as he apprehensively approached the entrance. Within moments of entering he was greeted with the sight of several half naked women both dancing on stage and walking around serving drinks. A quick perusal of the clientele proved his original suspicions right. The only women in this club were the ones walking around in G-strings. "Yep, they're definitely not here."

He spun on his heel and made for the exit as quickly as possible, fearing that if he stayed any longer Summer would somehow be able to sense the skank on him and make him regret even leaving the apartment that night.

"Hey, you're not leaving already, are you?"

Seth cringed when the sugary sweet voice reached his ears and he prayed that she was talking to some other dude currently running for the exit. Before he could wrap his hand around the door handle and make his escape a hand was running up his shoulder and down his chest as the owner of the hand pressed herself against his back.

"You just got here…"

"Uh…" Seth exhaled nervously as he tried to shrug her off, never once turning around to even face her. "I, uh… I'm actually in the wrong place. I was just looking for someone, and they're not here, so I should really just go and try to find them now…"

"You found me…" she whispered smoothly against his neck.

He scrunched his shoulders up in a vain attempt to try to block her breathy voice from hitting his neck. He didn't know why she was being so persistent. His body language was clearly not suggesting that he was interested.

"My…uh… My girlfriend…" he stuttered lamely, heart pounding in his chest as his head swam with all the possible bad outcomes this very unfortunate misunderstanding could eventually lead to.

"What's that, handsome?"

"That's who I'm looking for… I have a girlfriend…"

"Well, like you said before, she's not here." Her hands were now wrapped around his waist possessively, pressing him back against her lewdly. "Why don't you stay awhile…" she whispered, the low rumble in her throat implying everything that him "staying awhile" would involve. "You're cute. I'll even give you a free dance."

"Uh…" Seth struggled to find a way out of this predicament. Why him? Why did it have to be him? He was only trying to be helpful and yet he somehow ended up in this situation, a situation that could get him and his not-able-to-say-no ways in very serious trouble. "No thanks," he offered meekly as he struggled to pull away, but he found little success seeing as the second he got even a little aggressive in his escape attempt his ass would be in serious trouble for "manhandling" the dancers.

"Aww… you're breaking my heart…" her warm breath brushed against the back of his ear as she pouted and he cringed. "How about a free show in one of our private rooms?"

"No! Definitely not!" Seth answered adamantly, stepping to the side and finally out of her grasp.

The awkward move caused the hand she'd managed to keep attached to his back to slide forward until it was pressed against his stomach. She took the opportunity to examine his chest through his heavy coat and Seth coughed uncomfortably. "Do you think you could, maybe, like not do that?"

"You're so stressed…" she spoke lowly, ignoring his words and his obvious discomfort as she slid her hands down further until they were peeking into his coat pockets on either side. "You need to relax…"

Seth was about to respond that he really just needed to go when he felt her fingers slip into his pockets. He tensed when he felt one hand wrap around an item in there. "Hey!" he snapped, grabbing her wrist and yanking her grabby fingers out of his pocket before reaching in there himself to be sure everything was present and unharmed.

"Whoa… Feisty," she smirked seductively. "You're gonna be more fun than I thought."

Seth rolled his eyes impatiently before stepping to the door again and gripping the handle. Before he could pull it open she pressed her own hand to the door to keep it shut.

"Can you please move your hand?" he asked politely as he clenched the fist at his side in frustration.

"Just give me ten minutes and I'll blow your mind…" she persisted in a sultry purr.

Seth sighed annoyedly and looked down at her, really seeing her for the first time. His eyes widened as he took in her appearance. She looked like a teenager! He took a step back and stared at her incredulously.

"Are you even 18?"

The girl was so thrown off by his sudden change in demeanor that she couldn't even hide the falter in her voice as she stuttered out a hesitant, "Yes…"

Seth sighed and shook his head ruefully as he stared at the wayward teenager. "You shouldn't be here…"

"Neither should you if you have a girlfriend," she answered rudely, the smartass teenager coming out a lot more now that he had figured her out.

"I told you, I was looking for her."

"Is she a stripper or something?"

Seth rolled his eyes and held his temper, knowing that she was really just trying to get a rise out of him now that he had seen through her act. "I just got confused about an address she gave me," he explained briefly, not really interested in answering to a teenager but at the same time still wanting to defend Summer's honor. "Look, I'm not going to tell your boss or call the cops or anything…" the girl's demeanor obviously lightened at these words and her shoulders slumped as she relaxed. "But…" he added and the girl look worried. "I'm going to go now, and you're going to leave me alone. And, in a week I am going to put a call into this place and tell them that if they don't make an effort to get legitimate proof of age for all their workers the city'll be getting an anonymous tip pretty soon."

The girl just scowled at the ground, unable to maintain eye contact any longer. Seth watched her for another few seconds, almost hoping she would look up and ask for help. It was the Cohen way. According to them there was no such thing as bad kids, just kids who had ended up on bad paths.

When she didn't say anything or offer him any sort of sign that she understood he just sighed and nodded once somberly before finally slipping out the door.

If someone had told him a week ago that his Friday night would end up bringing him to this place, he would have laughed in their face.

He made a mental note to thank Taylor once again for her impromptu visit.

--------------------------------------------------

"So how long have you known them for?" Taylor inquired across the table to Summer as they watched Whitney and Ally let loose on the dance floor, swinging about wildly and dancing with anyone who was interested. Like Summer had said, they loved to act slutty, but it was all in good fun. They never really intended to go home with any of the guys they were leading on. It just all made for some fun stories the next time the three of them would get together.

"Oh… uh…?" Summer thought for a moment. "Well, I met Ally one of my first days after starting NYU, and then she introduced me to Whitney a few weeks after that, so I've known both of them for about two and a half years. Sometimes it seems like forever, though," she added, grinning as she remembered the countless stories she had that involved the two of them.

"They seem really fun," Taylor commented, but Summer could detect a hint of sadness.

Summer squinted, as if trying to focus her gaze enough to see through whatever shield her friend was trying to hold onto. "What's wrong?"

"What?" Taylor looked up suddenly from the drink she'd been swishing around in her glass and shook her head listlessly. "Nothing's wrong. Why would you think that?"

"Taylor…" Summer raised an eyebrow pointedly. "You've gone from completely psycho Fun Nazi who wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom before to completely lethargic and depressed. You're thinking about Ryan…" she stated matter-of-factly as she reached across the table and placed a hand over her friend's. "You should talk about it if you're still upset."

"I just don't really wanna talk about it right now," Taylor shrugged, trying to appear unaffected, but completely failing. "Anyway," she added, trying to sound more excited and carefree, "this is totally supposed to be a fun girls' night out, not one where we get all depressed talking about our boyfriends."

Summer smiled optimistically. "You'll work it out with, Ryan," she spoke reassuringly. "But, until then I understand if you don't want to talk about it, and since your only two criteria for tonight were drinking and dancing, I think we need to go get you another beverage and then head out to the dance floor."

Taylor smiled gratefully for the distraction Summer was trying to provide and took her friend's offered hand.

Summer led the way through the crowd towards the bar, weaving and pushing through people twice her size without a problem. Taylor found the sight a little amusing. Here she was about five inches taller than little Summer and yet it was her being dragged by the hand through a crowd.

The bar was exceptionally crowded when they got there, so Summer pushed their way to some empty stools and the two sat down to wait for one of the bar tenders.

After a minute or so they were able to get their orders in and sat talking while they waited.

Within seconds of receiving their drinks, though, they were interrupted by the sound Taylor was least expecting to hear in the entire world.

"Talyor!"

Her eyes bulged and she whipped around in the direction of her name-caller. There, rushing towards her through the masses of sweaty club-goers, was Ryan Atwood.

"Ryan!" she called in shock. "Wha—?"

"Taylor, I need to talk to you…" He panted as soon as he reached them, grabbing Taylor's arm and gently trying to urge her off her stool.

"What are you doing here? And how did you even know where I was?"

"Your neighbor told me…"

"Mrs. Williams told you I was at Club Social?"

"No," Ryan corrected, shaking his head impatiently, causing all the little droplets of water that had landed in his hair from the rain outside to sprinkle the girls. "She told me you went to New York. Seth's the one who told me you were here."

"How did Seth kno… Summer!" she spun around to glare at her friend. "You told them where we were?"

Summer raised her hands defensively and leaned back. "I only told Seth the name of where we were. They're the ones that found it."

"Ooh, Mapquest… I bet it's real hard."

"Taylor!" Ryan called over the music, bringing the attention back to him. "How I got here isn't the point. I really need to talk to you."

Taylor sighed and bit her lip anxiously. She was at a loss for what to do and looked to Summer hopefully for some kind of guidance.

Summer shrugged. "I can't make the decision for you Taylor, but I think you should hear him out. After all, the guy did just fly six hours just so he could talk to you."

Taylor thought over her options for a few seconds before giving a barely noticeable nod to Summer, which Summer interpreted and relayed as, "You've got five minutes, Atwood. And she's really pissed, so it better be good."

"Right," Ryan nodded in understanding, not taking his eyes off Taylor's as he held his hand out for her.

She took it reluctantly and allowed him to lead her through the throngs of sweaty dancers and out onto the street where they could find a little more privacy.

Summer smiled contentedly as she watched them leave, convinced that Taylor would be happy now that Ryan had shown some sort of commitment by following her all the way to New York. Plus, according to Seth, Ryan had even bigger news that was supposed to convince Taylor, so Summer was sure after they talked everything would be fine and her and Seth's lives would be left in peace for the weekend.

She turned back around to face the bar and picked up her abandoned drink, bringing it to her lips to sip it slowly. She would finish her drink while she waited to make sure Taylor didn't come back in. If Taylor didn't return in five minutes she would just go out and join Whitney and Ally on the dance floor.

That was one good thing Taylor being there had done for her. She had gotten credit for a girls' night out, but, because she had to stay around Taylor for emotional support, she hadn't actually had to do all the dancing and flirting that Whitney and Ally loved to partake in.

Six minutes after Ryan had stolen Taylor away Summer was still sat at the bar, wondering if she could maybe just cut out earlier and go home. Maybe Seth would still be up and they'd at least be able to spend a little time together that night. A glance at her phone though showed that it was nearly two, and with no one there to keep him up he probably would have already gone to bed.

Seconds later her phone rang to life with a new text message and she flipped it open to find Taylor's name highlighted on her screen.

_Hey, everything's sorted out. We're getting a hotel. We'll grab breakfast tomorrow with you guys before our flight home._

Summer sighed as she snapped her phone shut. Typical Taylor. One minute it was the end of the world and nothing could possibly fix it and the next everything was perfectly fine and as if nothing had ever happened.

She finished her drink in another minute and then opted for a third choice rather than returning home to a quiet apartment or joining her friends on the dance floor.

"'Excuse me…" she called politely to a passing bartender. When he looked up she smiled sweetly. "Can I get another…?" she held up her glass and the bartender smiled briefly in compliance and took her dirty cup in a hurry while mentally adding her new order to the line of many other drinks he had to make.

"Here you go," he set a new drink down in front of her a few minutes later. She smiled appreciatively and slid some money to him.

"Keep the change."

"Thanks," he nodded and smiled graciously before hurrying to fulfill the many other orders.

She sipped her new drink and checked her cell phone again, deciding she would leave after she finished this drink.

A few seconds later she felt someone slide into the empty seat next to her that had been vacated by Taylor. She was all set to ignore the newcomer and finish her drink quietly and in relative peace when the stranger spoke up.

"Someone as pretty as you shouldn't have to buy her own drinks... How about I get the next one for you?"

When she heard his voice her head snapped around in surprise and she grinned when she saw him smiling down at her.

"Well I don't know… I have a boyfriend and I don't think he would like that very much…" she smirked playfully.

Seth smiled back and shrugged indifferently. "Well I have a girlfriend, but she's not here right now, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her. Is your boyfriend here?"

She shook her head slowly, pretending to consider what to say before answering casually, "No, I guess he isn't."

"Well good. Then I guess we don't have a problem."

"I guess not. But I should warn you. I'm a little drunk right now and there's a very good chance that I'll let you take advantage of me."

"I'm willing to take that risk," he nodded seriously.

She nodded approvingly in return before downing the rest of her drink and standing. "So what do you say we get out of here?" she whispered in a low, sultry voice against his ear, making use of the age-old euphemism that really meant, 'Let's go somewhere and have sex.'

Seth hid a smile against her shoulder, knowing that if she saw him smiling she would laugh and then he would laugh and then the whole game would be over. And he was kind of having fun with the game.

So instead he brushed some hair away from her ear and purposefully skimmed his fingers down her neck and watched delightedly as goosebumps appeared wherever his skin had brushed hers. He tilted his head towards the dance floor then leaned in and whispered, "What about your friends? Won't they wonder where you went?" He knew that comment alone kind of broke the rules of the game, considering if he was really a complete stranger he'd have no clue who her friends were, but he also knew she'd feel guilty later if she just left and forgot to tell them.

At his words Summer's head snapped back towards the dance floor and she watched Whitney and Ally flirting carelessly with some strangers. She considered walking over and telling them, but then that would ruin both her game and theirs so instead she just shook her head dismissively and reached for Seth's hand.

"I'll just text them in the cab," she decided as she dragged her "random hookup" for the evening out the door behind her.

"So…" she started casually as they waited for a cab. "You're girlfriend won't be home when we get there?"

"Nah, she's got this girls' night out thing going on. She probably won't be home until much later."

"A girls' night out…" Summer repeated slowly, smirking devilishly. "Sounds pretty lame."

Seth nodded. "Good thing I found you for the evening, huh?"

"I'd say."

------------------------------------------------------

The entire fifteen minute cab ride home was spent in virtual silence accept Seth telling the cabdriver the address and the two of them occasionally asking random questions and whispering private innuendos into each other's ears to keep the game up. Though Summer did spend most of the ride with her head resting against Seth's shoulder like they would normally do, because, as fun a their game was, she really was a little drunk and definitely pretty tired after the day she'd had, and she was just not willing to give up her comfortable headrest. Likewise, it was always habit for him to wrap an arm around her shoulders and brush his fingertips up and down her smooth arm soothingly, so he didn't even realize how out-of-character that was for a random hookup the entire way home.

The cabdriver did though, and he was quite baffled by the time he dropped the two off in front of their address. The conversation had certainly not matched up with the mannerisms, and he watched them curiously as Seth hid Summer from the rain beneath his coat and ushered her inside past a scowling security guard.

"Crazy city…" he whispered to himself as he sped off into the night, his tires screeching against the wet asphalt.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"So this is your place, huh?" Summer feigned ignorance as Seth let her into the apartment.

"Yep," he nodded along, smiling at the commitment she was showing to her character.

"It's nice," she offered as her eyes briefly scanned the "unfamiliar" lodgings and she nodded approvingly. "Your girlfriend has good taste."

"How do you know I didn't decorate in here?" he fired back cheekily, grinning impishly when she looked thrown for a moment.

She recovered gracefully though, and strode towards him, deliberately taking her time just to build suspense. When she reached him her arms snaked around his neck and she pulled his face to hers, taking just enough time to whisper, "Woman's intuition…" before pressing her lips to his heatedly.

She had been waiting for it ever since he'd found her in the bar and he didn't disappoint. The kiss sent her senses spiraling to a new level of intoxication; one not at all related to how much alcohol she had consumed. She mewled softly into his mouth, and his arms wrapped tighter around her in response.

He was holding onto her as if his life depended on it, wishing that the kiss could last forever. He was desperately clinging to the last moments of certainty; soon he would be entering uncharted territory and he was scared out of his mind.

She could crush him.

He cried out on the inside when she finally pulled way, wishing he could share just one more moment of carefree affection with her before he put it all on the line.

"We should go to the bedroom…" she breathed out against his lips and Seth nodded slightly, but he stayed put as she turned to leave.

"On second thought…" his words halted her halfway down the hall. "I don't know if I'd feel comfortable having another girl in there…" he took a deep breath and made the proverbial plunge. "You know… in my fiancée's bed and all."

Summer's breath caught in her throat and suddenly, after 24 years of doing it without a problem, she forgot how to breathe. She spun around to face him and found him standing at the end of the hall in all of his awkward yet adorable Seth Cohen glory, holding a small black velvet box with an elegant diamond ring gleaming in the center of it.

"Fiancée…?" she whispered, holding a steadying hand to her chest and willing her breath to return to her.

"Well…" Seth stuttered and swallowed nervously as he took a step towards her. "That is if she accepts my proposal. You see, tonight's the first time she's ever even seen the ring and I'm still kind of waiting for the answer…"

Summer's eyes glistened in the dim light of the hall as she took a small step forward too, making it so that they were now standing just about a foot apart. Her eyes glanced from his down to the ring and back again several times, and Seth seriously thought he might pass out from the pure torture of the wait if she didn't say something soon.

Finally her eyes settled on his and she could see the anxiety in them as he anticipated her answer. She smiled softly before finally speaking in barely above a whisper. "Are we still playing the game…? Because right now I really just want to be your fiancée."

His eyes lit up at her words and he breathed for what felt like the first time in days. He didn't say anything; he couldn't think of anything adequate enough to express what he was feeling. Instead he wrapped her in a tight hug and buried his face against her neck, the dampness leaking from his eyes onto her satin skin saying everything that he couldn't express in words.

Summer's tears were a little less subdued, and they fell freely onto his coat as she pressed her face against his shoulder and inhaled his comforting scent. She couldn't believe this was how this crazy day was ending, with one of the happiest, most climatic moments of her life.

Finally, after what felt like hours, and yet hours that she could have lived over and over again, she pulled back and brushed her hand against the side of his face so that he would look up at her.

"You've had this planned the whole time?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I've had this planned for a month… It was supposed to be the typical romantic setup, with the flowers and the candles and all that, but then, you know… Taylor showed up and kind of put the kibosh on that. I mean…" he blushed and scratched at the back of his head nervously, "I know this wasn't the perfect day like I had planned, and it certainly wasn't the proposal that fairytales are made of… but, even after everything that happened today, when I finally made it to the club and saw you sitting there… it still just felt right; like, I knew I just couldn't go another day without knowing."

"I'm glad you didn't wait another day. It was perfect," she reassured him, cupping his cheeks and kissing his lips softly.

When she pulled away he was beaming at her, but he still looked a little anxious. "Really? Because I know this is a really busy time for you—and me too for that matter—and a proposal right before our final finals isn't exactly the best timing, but, you know… I didn't want to wait," he admitted. "I mean, we've been together for eight years, and I know that you're all I've ever wanted… And we're about to start this brand new, huge chapter of our lives and I wanted it to start with us together."

"It's perfect, Seth," she repeated her earlier sentiment warmly, her heart melting a little more for him with each passing word. He was amazing…

Perfect…

Unbelievable…

She was at a loss at how well he could articulate everything she herself had been feeling for the last few months. Everything he had wanted, she had wanted too, she just hadn't known how to say it.

"I love you, Cohen," was enough for her at the moment. She had the rest of their lives to figure out how to tell him exactly how she felt about him.

"I love you too," he whispered before kissing her softly, massaging his lips over hers for a countless number of moments before urging her mouth open with his gently probing tongue. She countered his move by wrapping her arms fully around his neck and pressing herself further into him, wanting to fit their bodies together like puzzle pieces that had been made to only fit each other.

Her warm breath brushed across his lips when she finally pulled away, which only served to make him want to go right back to kissing her. He pressed his forehead against hers and inhaled deeply, wanting desperately to be able to breath in her entire essence.

After regaining some of his ability to speak in the face of all of his desire for her flooding his senses, he whispered huskily, "Now do you want to go to the bedroom?"

She grinned at his use of her previous line before wrapping herself around him again and kissing the hell out of him.

Yes, Seth was definitely the more articulate one when it came to feelings, but she…?

Well, Seth knew when it came to Summer Roberts that her actions spoke louder than her words.

----------------------------------------------------

Hours later, but still in the early hours of the morning when the sun was just beginning to peak over the dark clouds, the two still lay awake, their covers strewn haphazardly over them while Summer lay contentedly draped over Seth's bare chest.

They had finished their latest round of celebrating nearly half an hour ago, but neither had fallen asleep afterwards despite the absolute silence they had been lying in.

Finally, whatever silent thoughts Summer had been having provoked a smile to spread across her face and she let it rest there for awhile before turning her face into his chest and dusting a series of soft kisses across it.

"You're the best, Cohen…" she whispered when she'd finally finished her appreciation of his chest and looked up at him, resting her chin on the area she had just been kissing.

"Well, thanks," he grinned curiously at her, wondering what had brought about that declaration. "The manly egotist in me thanks you."

Summer squinted in confusion for a moment before she realized what he meant. "No! Not that!" she shoved him lightly before leaning up some just so he could benefit from the visual of her eye roll. "I was talking about what you did earlier today."

"What do you mean what I did earlier?" he asked as he too pushed himself up and leaned against the headboard. Summer grunted at the loss of her cushion and sighed as she had to readjust herself against him.

"Taylor and Ryan's quirky little fight totally ruined the night you've been planning for a month, and while you were obviously not happy with Taylor, when it came down to it, you still helped them work things out."

Seth shrugged modestly. "Well you didn't see Ryan when he got here. He was a complete wreck thinking that Taylor was gonna run away to Paris or something."

The mention of Ryan brought up a question that Summer had had early but had completely forgotten about in lieu of everything else that had happened that night. "What _did_ Ryan tell Taylor anyway to make her suddenly okay again?"

"Oh, you don't know? I thought you were there when they had their whole confrontation."

"I sent them outside in case any screaming started. I didn't want to be thrown out of the club."

"Oh. Well you heard Taylor's side about Ryan not wanting to move in with her and always ignoring the subject when it came up and everything, right?"

"Yeah?" she nodded.

"Well it's not that Ryan was really trying to ignore it… he was just trying to postpone it."

Summer narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ryan didn't keep delaying it because he didn't want to move in with her… He kept delaying it because he was having a house built for her by the beach. He wasn't going to make his crew work through the holidays so he knew it wouldn't be ready until after New Year's, and that's why he asked Taylor to wait until after the holidays."

Summer nodded in understanding but then another thought came to mind. "But that doesn't make since. Why was he redoing his kitchen and having all that work done on his house then?"

"To increase the retail value, probably," he shrugged.

"Oh," she nodded again, this time fully understanding. "Wow," she commented, impressed. "Who knew Ryan Atwood could be such a romantic…"

"I was pretty impressed myself," he agreed. "I can be pretty romantic too though, right?" he added, nudging her shoulder encouragingly.

"Eh…" she shrugged, purposely fiddling with the newly placed engagement ring on her left ring finger as a smile grew over her face. "Planning the perfect proposal opportunity for a month and then still pulling off a completely perfect moment when all of your plans got messed up…?" she spoke casually as she swung a leg over his lap and straddled him, raising herself up so that her face was floating a few inches above his. "Yeah, that's pretty romantic," she couldn't help the grin that spread over her face and the giddiness in her voice as the memory replayed in her head.

Seth smiled up at her before kissing her tenderly.

When they pulled apart her left hand had somehow made it into his right one and it was now his turn to run his fingers over the ring affectionately as his mind processed all that it meant. Eight years of growing together, a month of worrying, a night of total disappointment followed by one of the most amazing moments of his life and it had all led up to this.

"You know it's going to kill me to have to wait till a decent hour to call everyone on the west coast and tell them…" her words brought Seth out of his engagement induced trance and he blinked up at her a few times before finally processing the words and nodding.

"Well, at least you get to tell Ryan and Taylor at breakfast tomorrow," he offered, yawning as the long night they had finally began to catch up with him.

She noted his prolonged yawn and smiled amusedly. "That is if you even wake up in time for breakfast."

"That's a good point," he smiled sleepily up at her. "Maybe you should just go to breakfast with them and tell them the news. Though, they'll probably hear about it pretty soon no matter what because I plan on shouting it off the roof as soon as I wake up tomorrow."

She laughed again as she slid off his lap and to her side, allowing him the room to slide back down under the covers. "That's the kind of energy I'm looking for, Cohen. We have a lot of work to do in the next year. Engagements are no walk in the park," she informed him knowingly as she slid down to join him under the covers and burrowed herself into his side.

"With you, Summer…" he spoke sweetly, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. "It's never a walk in the park."

Her mouth dropped open in an exaggerated display of indignation and she shoved his shoulder hard. "Don't make me throw you out onto the couch on our engagement night."

"I was just going to say…" he spoke slowly, affectionately, "but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Summer sighed reluctantly, but gave into his sweet words quickly. "You're just lucky you have, like, a million other sweet things working for you today."

"And obviously, it takes precisely a million sweet thoughts to make up for one bad one."

"Mm, hmm," she nodded authoritatively. "I learned it in that Psych class I had to take in undergrad."

Seth rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You're so full of it," he laughed as he flipped her onto her back and attacked her ticklish sides, grinning widely when his efforts were rewarded with her shrieks of laughter.

He watched entranced, completely absorbed in the way just watching her smile and listening to her laugh made him feel like he was floating. It was as if her entire being glowed and he was somehow lucky enough to have all her energy radiated onto him.

Slowly his movements slowed until his hands were simply holding her sides gently as he stared down at her still smiling, and now flushed, face.

She was still breathing heavily, trying to recover from the sudden burst of activity, and hadn't noticed his sudden change of demeanor until he brushed a tender hand across her cheek and tucked some hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear.

"I really, really love you," he whispered softy, brushing an affectionate kiss against her nose.

Her beaming smile softened as she stared back at him and ran her own fingers through his wild curls affectionately. "I really, really love you too," she repeated his sentiment before brushing her lips against his. When she pulled back she wore the same contented smile as she spoke. "And there's no other way I'd rather be starting this next chapter of our lives…"

Seth smiled at her use of his earlier sentiment, comforted to know that she was on the exact same page as him.

After minutes of silently staring at one another Seth's attention was drawn to the large window in their bedroom and he was shocked to see the morning sun almost fully out.

"It's morning," he whispered, leaning into her ear. "We should probably try to get some sleep before we have to be up in a few hours…"

Summer shrugged indifferently while pushing herself further into his warm embrace. "I don't want to go to sleep. This day has been so crazy, I'm afraid that if I go to sleep I might not believe this really happened when I wake up tomorrow."

"Well…" Seth nodded seriously, pretending to consider her point very carefully before replying, "Then I guess I'll just have to propose again tomorrow, and again the day after that, and the day after that, until you finally believe this is real…"

Her insides twisted with love at his words, and she grinned to show her appreciation for his effort. But, in the end, they were still Seth and Summer, and she was still Summer Roberts, which meant that the second thought that came into her head was almost inevitable.

And Seth could only sigh amusedly and laugh when she finally expressed the sentiment.

"Does that mean I get a new ring everyday?"

"Sure…" he nodded seriously when he finished laughing, and Summer was almost convinced by his tone, but she knew him well enough to know more was coming. "But if you ask me about it tomorrow I may just say it was another part of your dream."

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The End. Hope you enjoyed it.


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